About Me

Flutist
Performer
Teacher
Researcher
Writer

Based in Chicago, Illinois

I am Jennifer Wilhelms, a flutist who performs, teaches, researches, and writes.

Through my academic studies and my experiences as a flutist and music instructor, I have come to realize that great musicianship demands various forms of intelligence—intellectual, physical, emotional, and psychological, among others.

I strive to sharpen and broaden my knowledge of these skill sets so that I may share this insight with others.

Current and ongoing interests include the Alexander Technique, multiphonics, old Powell flutes, teachings of Arnold Jacobs, sport psychology, Jascha Heifetz, and An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski.

In my spare time, you can find me walking (everywhere!), admiring the Bonsai Collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and writing down my thoughts using good old-fashioned pencil and paper as I ride around the city on the trains.

MORE ABOUT ME

Jennifer Wilhelms (Ph.D., Music Performance, New York University) is a flutist, teacher, and scholar based in Chicago.

An intelligent and multi-faceted artist, Jennifer has performed throughout Illinois and the United States, presenting programs that feature traditional repertoire, new music, and composers from the world of jazz.  Around Chicago she has performed at venues such as Constellation, the Fulton Street Collective, the Hungry Brain, and the Chicago Cultural Center, among others.  Some of her events elsewhere have included performances at Cornell University, the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), the Flute New Music Consortium New Music Festival, and with the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota.  She has also played on several occasions with the Chicago Composers Orchestra.  In addition to her commitment to standard repertoire, she seeks the forefront of contemporary and new solo and chamber music.  She commissioned and recently premiered Darius Jones’s There Is To Hear for solo flute and Eric Malmquist’s Mirrors for flute duo.

A dedicated teacher, Jennifer maintains a thriving private studio in Chicago. From 2015 to 2020, she coached the Lincoln Park Flutes, an adult chamber ensemble that commissioned and premiered Catherine McMichael’s Vistas for flute quintet in 2019.  Previously, she taught introductory music history and music theory courses at Florida Gulf Coast University, and served as the Assistant Director of the NYU New Music Ensemble.  She is devoted to lifelong learning and to physical and mental wellness in musicianship. In this regard, she has studied the Alexander Technique for many years and has surveyed a wide-ranging literature on master pedagogues, mindfulness, and strategies for managing performance anxiety.

Jennifer has written multiple articles for the Chicago Flute Club’s publication, Pipeline.  Her entries on a variety of topics in her professional blog have received responses from readers around the world.

Prior to doctoral studies, Jennifer received a Bachelor of Music at the University of North Texas and a Master of Music at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  Over the years, her teachers have included Keith Underwood, Mary Karen Clardy, Bernard Goldberg, and John Henes.